Bedtime is giving me the rage - help!!!

[Cherrypineapplecocktail]

3 year old at bedtime. Won’t settle to sleep if i’m not sat in the room by her bed but recently it’s taking about 2/3 hours to get her to sleep. I feel like starting the bedtime routine at 4pm so she’s asleep by 7 😂

She’s fine for bath/teeth/story etc. Then when it’s time to get into bed, she doesn’t want to stay in bed. She wants to play/be rocked/sing/wee/drink etc on repeat.

I’ve tried bribes, threats of losing fun things, saying nothing apart from “time to sleep” on repeat, I’ve even left her in her room and come downstairs as I needed a cry. I went back up a few mins later as she was crying for me. I’ve tried walks in the evening, visiting the park.

When she decides she’s ready to sleep, it takes her about 30 seconds to drop off. Then she’ll sleep all night (but the late nights mean she’s not getting enough sleep and is tiredp in the day).

Not to mention having to get 6 year old to sleep too.

Single parent so no one to tag team with but I need help!

Praying someone has something I can try! 🤞🏼🤞🏼

Omg we are having the same problem. Has anything helped for you yet? We have sometimes found a much earlier bed time can help but usually it's a long 2-3 hours battle. We've tried just letting him stay up but the whole thing still takes just as long!! The routine started late last night at 930pm as a trial and it was close to midnight when he finally went to sleep. It's become a big issue since his sister arrival but it started when I was pregnant . He won't even wind down or lie in bed. He constantly tries to run down and then tantrums and screams

I posted on another group and so many people replied saying they use magnesium glycinate gummies. I was skeptical but I bought them on Amazon (will try and attach a pic as this brand are supposed to be the best). All I can say is, WOW. It has been an absolute game changer for us. I give her and her sister a gummie each an hour about before bed and when I put them to bed they go to sleep within 5 minutes. I also feel like my eldest is calmer during the day too, probably because she’s getting better sleep.

I think they were about £15 on Amazon but worth every penny.

You will get there. This is a phase for many.

I am a single parent too and it’s soul destroying when you just want to sit on your own in silence but can’t get away!

I’d say decide on a technique and be consistent, no budging. It will take a while for it to sink in that it really is the new routine but things should start to get a tiny bit better then.

We have a nightlight which changes colour at certain times. Purple means bedtime and orange means wake up time. When it goes purple we don’t chat, we don’t read, it’s sleep time so we can hold hands or I can sit whilst she lies in bed and that’s it. Any faffing and she’s told ‘it’s night night time, mummy has jobs to do, if you’re not going to go to sleep mummy will go and do some jobs and come back to check on you in a while’.

Usually that was like a threat to DD and she’d settle down. Eventually she started telling me to stay with her for X mins, she would then count to that number and tell me to go away. I think she feels better that it’s on her terms. She’s nearly 5 now and bedtimes have been decent for maybe 12-18 months I’d say. Sometimes she can’t sleep but she lies there quietly. If she calls me up much we have a talk about how it’s night time and mummy needs to have dinner etc so can she try to relax and lie quietly if she can’t sleep. I don’t encourage books unless she wakes up early in the morning and can’t sleep and then she’s told she can play or read quietly until the light goes orange. She still has a stair gate because her room is adjacent to a very steep wooden staircase (live in an old cottage) and I worry about her wobbling down then if she goes to the loo in the night etc.